Kansas guard Zeke Mayo (5) celebrates a three against Arizona during the second half on Saturday, March 8, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Early in the season, Kansas guard Zeke Mayo found a way to contribute even if he didn’t have his shot.

For example, Mayo earned a direct shout-out from Michigan State’s Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo when he managed to give the Jayhawks 10 rebounds and seven assists on a night when he went 2-for-8 from the field — playing a direct role in one of KU’s biggest wins of the year, 77-69 over the Spartans on Nov. 12.

In recent games, amid a lengthy shooting slump, Mayo hadn’t quite made himself useful in the same way.

When KU lost to Texas Tech on March 1, he went 1-for-7 and compounded it with five turnovers compared to just one assist; he shot a bit better at Houston on Tuesday but again posted just one assist to six giveaways.

The senior and Lawrence native put those “alarming” turnovers, as he put it, in the past on Saturday with a strong all-around showing in his final game at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I felt like I was due for one, and why not on senior night, my last one in the Fieldhouse?” Mayo said after KU’s 83-76 victory over No. 24 Arizona. “This one meant more to me than any other game — but every game means something, but obviously this one meant a little more.”

Not only did Mayo score 20 points on 5-for-9 shooting (nearly all 3-point attempts), he dished out six assists, including three in the span of 59 seconds late in the first half to help KU build its lead. It was his highest assist total since Jan. 5 at UCF and his first game without a turnover since Jan. 11 at Cincinnati. One play in which he bypassed a potential 3-point shot for an overhead toss to Hunter Dickinson for a layup — the kind of clever pass he had made earlier in the year during his stronger stretches of play — exemplified the shift.

“I thought Zeke’s floor game was great,” KU coach Bill Self said.

For Mayo, both the scoring and the passing came down to a more aggressive approach.

“I’ve had discussions with multiple coaches this week about me being aggressive and kind of inserting myself early in the game to where aggression kind of takes those turnovers away, I feel like,” Mayo said. “We both feel like when I play hesitant, that’s when I tend to turn the ball over more.”

Mayo’s approach dovetailed well with what teammate KJ Adams described as the Jayhawks’ overall mindset in a close game late: “We were just more aggressive and didn’t really hope for things to happen, we kind of made it happen today.”

From an offensive perspective, the mindset was evident in Mayo on a series of late-game drives to generate free throws, which the Jayhawks have lacked all year. It had even manifested itself earlier on an off-balance 3-pointer from the corner in transition that Mayo drilled, the sort of play KU hadn’t gotten from anyone other than reserve guard David Coit in recent games.

While Mayo had continued to average about 14 points per game, he hadn’t reached 20 in over a month until Saturday. KU will need at least periodic games of that caliber from its senior guard to excel in the postseason.

“I feel like when we get to March Madness, all you need to do is have one guy play really great each game,” Dickinson said. “… I think we’re talented enough. We were the preseason No. 1 team in the country for a reason. We have the talent, but it’s just a matter of going out there and showing it. We’re always about collective efforts.”